Executive Summary

During the period 1901 to 2007, there have been 42 general
elections for the House of Representatives and 40 Senate elections.
This paper contains a brief commentary on each election, and
statistical summary information of each election along with the
results in each state and territory.

Unless otherwise specified, elections were held for the House of
Representatives and half of the Senate on the following dates:

1901

29-30

March

House of Representatives and Senate

1903

16

December

1906

2

December

1910

13

April

1913

31

May

1914

5

September

Double dissolution

1917

5

May

1919

13

December

1922

16

December

1925

14

November

1928

17

November

1929

12

October

House of Representatives

1931

19

December

1934

15

September

1937

23

October

1940

21

September

1943

21

August

1946

28

September

1949

10

December

1951

28

April

Double dissolution

1953

9

May

Half-Senate

1954

29

May

House of Representatives

1955

10

December

1958

22

November

1961

9

December

1963

30

November

House of Representatives

1964

5

December

Half-Senate

1966

26

November

House of Representatives

1967

25

November

Half-Senate

1969

25

October

House of Representatives

1970

21

November

Half-Senate

1972

2

December

House of Representatives

1974

18

May

Double dissolution

1975

13

December

Double dissolution

1977

10

December

1980

18

October

1983

5

March

Double dissolution

1984

1

December

1987

11

July

Double dissolution

1990

24

March

1993

13

March

1996

2

March

1998

3

October

2001

10

November

2004

9

October

2007

24

November

Introduction

This research paper updates Federal election
results 1949 2004 , a Research Brief produced by Gerard
Newman in 2005.[1] It
contains a summary of the Federal elections House of
Representatives and Senate held from 1901 to the latest in 2007.
Some comments on each election are provided in this paper, along
with a series of statistical tables.

Tables showing detailed state and territory
results for each House of Representatives and Senate election
contain:

figures for the number of electors enrolled

the number and percentage of votes received by party, and

seats won by party.

Votes received by party are expressed as a
percentage of formal votes, while formal and informal votes are
expressed as a percentage of total votes. Total votes are expressed
as a percentage of electors enrolled in contested divisions.
Enrolled figures represent the total number of electors enrolled in
each state, while enrolled division figures represent the number of
electors enrolled in contested divisions only.

Other individual state and territory tables
summarise the results for that state and territory at every House
of Representatives and Senate election. These show by party the
percentage of formal vote and seats won.

Further tables showing Senate compositions,
two-party preferred votes, informal votes and turnout[2] at each Senate and House
of Representatives election in the period are also included.

Of the House of Representatives elections,
non-Labor parties or coalitions have won 29 and the Australian
Labor Party (ALP) has won 13. Australian politics has been
characterised by relatively long periods in government. Since 1930
there have been only eight changes of government: 1932, 1941, 1949,
1972, 1975, 1983, 1996 and 2007.

Double dissolutions of both houses have occurred
six times, resulting in full Senate elections being held in 1914,
1951, 1974, 1975, 1983 and 1987. Half-Senate elections only were
held in 1953, 1964, 1967 and 1970. House of Representatives
elections only were held in 1929, 1954, 1963, 1966, 1969 and
1972.

Since the introduction in 1949 of Proportional
Representation (PR) for Senate elections, the government of the day
has had control in the Senate only during 1951 56, 1959 62, 1975 81
and 2005 07. On each occasion the Liberal/National (Country) Party
Coalition was in government. An ALP government has not controlled
the Senate since 1944 49, though the party did control the Senate
1949 51 while in opposition.

Australia’s first Commonwealth election was essentially
six separate elections held over two days, as each state conducted
an election in accordance with its own electoral laws and
practices. Three loosely-affiliated political groups contested the
election: the Protectionists led by Edmund Barton, the Free Traders
led by George Reid and a collection of Labor candidates. No one
group attained the majority required to form government outright,
with the Protectionists taking 32 seats in the House of
Representatives, the Free Traders 26 seats, Labor candidates 15
seats and independents two seats. The Barton Protectionists formed
government reliant upon the support of the Labor members. Reid and
the Free Traders formed the official Opposition.

Labor candidates similarly held the balance of power in the
Senate claiming eight seats to the Free Traders’ 17 seats and
the Protectionists’ 11 seats. Labor’s general
preference for Protectionist policy ensured a Senate that was
generally supportive of the Government.

1903, 16 December

This was the first election held under Commonwealth electoral
legislation. First Past the Post was the electoral system. Once
again no one political group gained a majority of Representative
seats, with the Protectionists winning 26 seats, the Free Traders
25 seats and Labor 23 seats. One independent candidate also claimed
a seat. The relative equality of the three parties made the task of
governing difficult, with the possibility of coalitions explored.
Despite this uncertainty, the Deakin Protectionists continued in
office with the support of the Labor members.

The Labor Party (also referred to throughout as the Australian
Labor Party or ALP) gained a pronounced swing in the Senate
contest, winning 10 out of the 19 vacancies. Party representation
in the upper house was now 14 Labor, 12 Free Trade, eight
Protectionists and two independents.

1906, 12
December

The multi-party contest for control of the House of
Representatives continued at the 1906 election with the
distribution of seats being: 26 Labor, 27 Anti-Socialists, 16
Protectionists, four Independent Protectionists and two Western
Australian Party.

A tentative understanding reached between Deakin and the Labor
Party during the election campaign ensured that the Protectionists
continued in government, dependent upon the support of the Labor
members.

In the Senate election the Anti-Socialists had the most success,
winning 11 out of the 19 vacancies. Labor won five seats and the
Protectionists claimed two seats. The makeup of the Senate was now
15 Anti-Socialists, 15 Labor, four Protectionists and two
independents.

1910, 13
April

The 1910 election has been the only Commonwealth election to
have taken place due to the effluxion of time. The amalgamation of
the non-Labor groups during the third parliament ensured that only
two major political parties contested the election: the Labor Party
led by Andrew Fisher and the Liberal Party led by Alfred
Deakin.

Labor won a substantial victory to become the first party to win
a clear majority in both houses of parliament. Labor received a
swing of 13.4 per cent across the country which was translated into
a net gain of 17 seats. In the House of Representatives Labor held
43 seats to the Liberals’ 31 seats, with one independent.

The Labor Party’s nation-wide support was affirmed in the
Senate election, with Labor candidates winning all of the 18
vacancies. Labor held 23 Senate seats and the Liberals held 13
seats.

1913, 31 May

The Liberal Party was led by Joseph Cook, who had taken over the
leadership after the retirement of Deakin in January 1913. The
Liberals received a small swing in the lower house, with their
share of the national vote increasing to 48.9 per cent (+3.8 per
cent). This increase in voter support was translated into a net
gain of seven seats, but the Cook team only narrowly won office, 38
seats to Labor’s 37.

In the Senate, the Liberal Party won only 7 of the 18 seats
being contested; Labor still controlled the upper house.

1914, 5 September (Double
dissolution)

The 1914 election was the first Commonwealth election to have
been instigated by dissolution of both houses. The Liberal
Party’s single seat majority in the House of Representatives,
and the absence of Government control in the Senate, had encouraged
Prime Minister Cook to trigger a double dissolution election under
section 57 of the Constitution. All of the 75 House of
Representative seats and 36 Senate seats were contested after the
Labor-controlled Senate twice rejected the Government’s
Preference Prohibition Bill.

Cook’s move backfired, for the Labor Party gained a
comfortable victory, winning 42 of the 75 House of Representatives
seats. The Labor Party achieved over half of the national vote with
50.9 per cent. This remains Labor’s highest return in a House
of Representatives election.

The Senate results also showed that the swing to Labor was
nation-wide with Labor winning 31 vacancies to the Liberal’s
five.

1917, 5 May

W. M. Hughes replaced Andrew Fisher as Labor Prime Minister in
October 1915. The Labor Party, split over conscription during 1916,
saw Hughes cling onto office: first as head of a National Labor
Government (1916-17) and then as head of a Nationalist Government
from February 1917. The Nationalist Party had assumed the position
of Australia’s major conservative party after the merging of
the Liberal Party with the breakaway National Labor Party in
1917.

The Nationalist Party easily won the 1917 election. The 53 seats
won by the Nationalists was the highest number of seats achieved by
a political party in the 75/76-member lower house between 1901 and
1946.

The Nationalists’ strong performance in the Senate gave
them an overall majority of 24 seats in the upper house compared
with Labor who held 12 seats. The Hughes Nationalist Government
therefore became the first non-Labor government to control both
Houses of Parliament.

1919, 13 December

The 1919 election saw the emergence of the Country Party as a
force in Australian politics. Its emergence was aided by the
introduction of Preferential Voting in 1918. With electoral law now
stipulating that preferences be distributed amongst candidates
during the tallying of votes, both conservative parties could
nominate a candidate in the same electorate without seriously
splitting the non-Labor vote. Preferential Voting helped the
conservatives to retain power in this election, with the
Nationalists winning 37 seats and the country parties (including
Independent Nationalists, Nationalist and Farmers, Farmers and
Settlers, Victorian Farmers’ Union and the Country Party)
holding the balance of power with 12 seats. Labor improved
marginally upon their previous election result, winning 26
seats.

In the Senate contest the Nationalists won 18 out of the 19
vacancies, giving them 35 of 36 Senate seats.

1922, 16
December

Neither the incumbent Nationalist Party, nor the Labor Party,
achieved the majority required to form government in its own right
at the 1922 election. The Nationalists won 26 seats in the lower
house, Labor 30, the Country Party 14 and the Liberals five. There
was one independent.

Due to the Nationalist Party’s loss of seats, the Country
Party occupied a pivotal position in the House of Representatives.
The party used this in negotiations over the forming of an
anti-Labor coalition, with the result that Prime Minister Hughes
was pushed aside in favour of Treasurer Stanley Bruce. On 9
February 1923 the Bruce-Page Nationalist-Country Coalition
Government was sworn in.

The 1922 election also saw the Northern Territory granted a
single non-voting Member in the House of Representatives.

In the Senate election the Labor Party was able to reverse its
previous electoral performance, securing 11 out of the 19 available
seats with 45.7 per cent of the national vote. Despite this, the
Coalition retained control of the Senate, occupying 24 seats
compared with the Labor Party’s 12 seats.

1925, 14 November

The 1925 election was the first Commonwealth election in which
voting was compulsory. Voter turnout was 91.4 per cent of enrolled
voters, an increase of 32 per cent over the 1922 figure.

The election resulted in a sweeping victory for the two
non-Labor parties. The Bruce-Page Government was returned to power
with an increased majority in the House of Representatives, winning
51 seats to Labor’s 24 seats. There was a single
independent.

A 1924 agreement struck between the Nationalist and Country
parties to exchange preferences, greatly aided the conservative
parties. It was also agreed that in lower house divisions that
might be lost to Labor, the conservative member would not be
opposed by the other political party. This co-operation enabled the
Nationalists to retain all of their 26 seats won at the previous
election, as well as gain an additional 11 seats. The Country Party
repeated its 14-seat success of 1922, with the loss of one seat in
Tasmania offset by a gain in New South Wales.

The Nationalist-Country Coalition also had success in the Senate
election, securing all 22 seats on offer. The Coalition therefore
controlled the Senate, 28–8.

1928, 17 November

In early 1928 the leadership of the Labor Party was transferred
to James Scullin, following the retirement of Mathew Charlton due
to ill health.

The 1928 election resulted in another defeat for Labor, with the
Coalition Government returned to office, albeit with a reduced
majority. In the House of Representatives the Nationalist-Country
parties held 43 seats, Labor 32 seats, and one independent was
returned.

On this occasion Labor managed to win seven Senate seats, a
marked improvement on its nil return in 1925.

1929, 12 October (House of
Representatives)

The 1929 election was the first to be conducted for the House of
Representatives only. Prime Minister Bruce secured the dissolution
of the house after several members of the Bruce-Page Government had
crossed the floor to vote with the Opposition on the proposed
Maritime Industries Bill.

The election result was a landslide victory to the Labor Party
which saw its vote increase by 4.1 per cent, lifting it to office
for the first time since 1916. Labor candidates won in 47
divisions, Nationalists in 14 and Country Party candidates in 10.
Five independents also won seats, three of whom were former
Nationalists. Labor therefore held 15 more seats than after the
1928 election. Fourteen of these came from the Nationalists. In
losing Flinders, Prime Minister Bruce was the first Prime Minister
to lose his seat.

1931, 19 December

The Labor Government suffered a crushing defeat, matching the
record of Joseph Cook (1914) in losing office after a single term.
In the lead-up to the 1931 election the Labor Party had experienced
much dissent in its ranks over its policies to cope with the
Depression. In New South Wales, Premier Jack Lang and his federal
supporters were expelled from the Labor Party. In addition,
Postmaster-General Joe Lyons and several other Labor MPs defected
from the Labor Party. These defectors, in alliance with the
Nationalist Party and a number of independents, formed the United
Australia Party (UAP). The defection of such a large number of
Labor MPs forced Prime Minister Scullin to request an early
dissolution of Parliament.

The split in the Labor Party resulted in Labor losing 32 seats.
The traditional support that Labor had received from New South
Wales was not forthcoming, with the party winning only three seats
in the state – a loss of 17; the New South Wales (Lang) Labor
Party won four seats. The UAP performed well as Australia’s
newest conservative party, winning 34 seats and, under Lyons’
leadership, forming the first minority government since 1917. The
new government enjoyed the informal support of the Country
Party.

In the Senate election there was a swing against the Labor
Party, which only managed to secure three Senate vacancies with
29.3 per cent of the national vote. The UAP and the Country Party
won 15 seats with 55.4 per cent of the nation-wide vote. The
conservatives therefore took control of the Senate, occupying 26
seats to Labor’s ten seats.

1934, 15 September

Although the UAP and Country Party (CP) both lost seats, the
party strength of the UAP, CP and ALP altered only marginally in
this election. Labor was still weak in NSW, where they secured a
single seat to Lang Labor’s nine seats. The party’s
national vote was 26.8 per cent, its lowest-ever.

On 9 November 1934 Prime Minister Lyons and the UAP entered into
a coalition with the Country Party.

The continued disunity in Labor ranks helped the conservatives
to secure all available seats in the Senate election. The
UAP/Country Party Coalition therefore held 33 out of the 36 Senate
seats.

1937, 23 October

The 1937 election resulted in a return to power for the Lyons
Government. The UAP marginally increased their percentage of the
vote (+2.5 per cent) and made a net gain of one seat. The Country
Party gained 11.5 per cent of the vote and continued to hold 12
seats. The Labor Party, reunited under the leadership of John
Curtin, saw its vote rise by 16.3 per cent 43.1 per cent with its
tally of 29 seats being the party’s best performance since
1929. Labor was able to reclaim many of the seats that it had lost
in New South Wales in 1931 and 1934.

Having won no Senate seats at the 1934 election, the Labor Party
made a solid gain in 1937, winning 16 of 19 seats. The Coalition
still held control of the Senate with 20 seats.

1940, 21 September

The death of Prime Minister Lyons in April 1939 produced unrest
in the conservative parties. Country Party leader, Earle Page,
became Prime Minister for 19 days, followed by Robert Menzies as
head of a UAP Government for 11 months, and then as leader of a
Coalition Government until the 1940 election. In the election, the
Coalition parties won only 33 seats, and Menzies remained Prime
Minister with the support of two independents.

The Coalition Government managed to retain control of the Senate
at the election with a two seat majority over the Labor Party.

Menzies remained Prime Minister of a government with many
internal tensions until he stepped down on 29 August 1941. Country
Party leader Arthur Fadden became Prime Minister. However, the
Fadden UAP-Country Coalition soon lost control of the House of
Representatives when the two independents withdrew their support,
and Labor’s John Curtin became Prime Minister on 7 October
1941.

1943, 21 August

The continuing instability of the conservative parties, and the
popularity of Labor under Curtin, pushed the Government to a 49
seat majority in the lower house. Labor won 49.9 per cent of the
national vote—a swing of 9.8 per cent. The UAP received its
smallest share of lower house seats (12) since the Party’s
founding in 1931.

The Labor’s strong electoral support was also exhibited in
the Senate election with the Party winning all 19 seats on offer.
Labor therefore regained control of the Senate for the first time
in 22 years.

Women were elected to the Parliament for the first time at the
1943 election. Labor’s Dorothy Tangney was elected to the
Senate for Western Australia, and Joe Lyons’ widow, Enid
Lyons, was elected to the House of Representatives for the
Tasmanian division of Darwin.

1946, 28 September

John Curtin died in office in July 1945, and was replaced by
Frank Forde. Ben Chifley took over as leader one week later.

Labor comfortably retained office in 1946, though with the loss
of six seats. Labor was opposed by the newly-formed Liberal Party,
which emerged from the disintegration of the UAP. Led by Robert
Menzies, the Liberals performed creditably, securing 12.6 per cent
more of the vote than its predecessor had achieved three years
before.

In the Senate election the Labor Government won 16 of the 19
seats.

1949, 12 December

The 1949 election saw Menzies lead the Liberal Party, in close
cooperation with the Country Party, to victory. The House of
Representatives had been enlarged from 74 to 121 members (123
including non-voting members from the Northern Territory and, for
the first time, the Australian Capital Territory) and the Senate
from 36 to 60.

Proportional Representation was introduced for the 1949 Senate
election, which resulted in a more equitable distribution of seats.
The previous method had tended to produce a
‘winner-take-all’ result. The number of senators
elected in 1949 (seven from each state) included two supernumerary
senators from each state to bring the Senate up to its full
complement of 60 members. The ALP retained control of the
Senate.

1951, 28 April (Double
Dissolution)

The 1951 election occurred after Menzies secured a double
dissolution resulting from the ALP-controlled Senate refusing to
pass the Government’s banking legislation. The Government was
comfortably returned, and the ALP lost control of the Senate.

1953, 9 May (Senate)

The 1953 separate half-Senate election was held as a consequence
of the 1951 simultaneous dissolution and the Constitutional
provision (section 13) backdating the terms of senators elected at
a simultaneous dissolution election, to the preceding 1 July. Prime
Minister Menzies opted to have a Senate-only election.

1954, 29 May (House of
Representatives)

Although the Liberal/Country Party Coalition Government was
returned at the 1954 election, there was a 1.4 per cent swing to
the ALP, giving the ALP a majority of the estimated two-party
preferred vote (50.7 per cent). The ALP received 50.1 per cent of
the first preference vote, the only election in the post-war period
where any party has achieved more than 50 per cent of the first
preference vote.

1955, 10 December

The 1955 election saw the first electoral consequences of the
split in the ALP. Anti-communist Labor (ACL) candidates stood
against ALP candidates in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.
The effects of the strength of the ACL were most notably felt in
Victoria where the ALP vote in the House of Representatives fell by
13.2 per cent to 37.1 per cent. In the Senate, one ACL candidate
was elected from Victoria where the ALP vote fell by 15.9 per cent
to 35.0 per cent.

1958, 22 November

The full effects of the split in the ALP were felt in the 1958
election with the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) standing candidates
in all states. The DLP polled more House of Representatives votes
than the Country Party and its preferences helped the
Liberal/Country Party Coalition achieve a then post-war record
majority in the House of Representatives (32 seats).

A DLP senator was elected from Tasmania giving the DLP two
Senators. The Coalition Government regained control of the
Senate.

1961, 9 December

The Liberal/Country Party Coalition Government came close to
defeat in the 1961 election held after the 1960–61
‘credit squeeze’. The ALP and the Coalition actually
had equal numbers on the floor of the House of Representatives
after the election, but two of the ALP number were members from the
Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory who had
restricted voting rights in the chamber at the time.

The Coalition Government lost effective control of the Senate,
requiring support of either the DLP or independent senators for a
majority.

The 1961 election was only one of five occasions in the post-war
period where the party winning government has received less than 50
per cent of the two-party preferred vote. The Liberal/Country Party
Coalition received an estimated 49.5 per cent of the two-party
preferred vote.

1963, 30 November (House of
Representatives)

The 1963 House of Representatives election was held following
the early dissolution called before a Senate election was
constitutionally permissible. The Liberal/Country Party Coalition
Government was returned with an increased majority. The Country
Party vote was higher than the DLP vote for the first time since
1955.

1964, 5 December
(Senate)

The 1964 separate half-Senate election was held when it fell
due. Prime Minister Menzies chose not to make the houses’
elections simultaneous. The major parties shared 28 seats, with the
DLP winning two seats.

1966, 26 November (House of
Representatives)

The 1966 election resulted in a landslide victory for the
Liberal/Country Party Coalition Government with a majority of 40 in
a House of Representatives of 124 members. The number of Liberal
Party members elected (61) was a then post-war record high while
the number of ALP members elected (41) was a then post-war record
low. The estimated two-party preferred vote received by the
Liberal/Country Party, 56.9 per cent, is the highest in the
post-war period. The election of Sam Benson, Batman, Victoria, was
the first success by an independent candidate since 1946.

This was the first election where the voters of the Australian
Capital Territory elected a member who had full voting rights in
the lower house.

1967, 25 November
(Senate)

The continuing success of the DLP and independent candidates at
the 1967 separate half-Senate election increased their number to
five, at that time a post-war record number. The ALP maintained 27
senators with the Liberal/Country Party Coalition losing three
places to have 28 senators.

1969, 25 October (House of
Representatives)

The ALP made substantial gains in the 1969 election to recover
much of the ground lost in the 1966 election. The Liberal/Country
Party Coalition Government majority in the House of Representatives
was reduced from 40 to 7. The estimated two-party preferred swing
to the ALP (7.1 per cent) is the highest recorded swing to the ALP
in the post-war period. The Coalition Government was returned with
less than 50 per cent of the estimated two-party preferred vote
(49.8 per cent).

This was the first election where voters of the Northern
Territory elected a member who held full voting rights in the lower
house.

1970, 21 November
(Senate)

The election of five minor party and independent senators at the
1970 separate half-Senate elections raised their number to eight,
continuing the ‘by-election atmosphere’ of separate
half-Senate elections. The 1970 election remains the last separate
half-Senate election to be held.

1972, 2 December (House of
Representatives)

Australia experienced its first change of a Commonwealth
government in 23 years with the defeat of the Liberal/Country Party
Coalition Government by the ALP. The estimated ALP two-party
preferred vote, 52.7 per cent, was the second highest recorded
since the war. However, the incoming ALP Government faced a hostile
Senate, reflecting Senate election results in 1967 and 1970.

1974, 18 May (Double
dissolution)

The 1974 double dissolution election synchronised elections for
the House of Representatives and the Senate for the first time
since 1961. The 1974 election saw the demise of the DLP as a
political power in the Senate, with the loss of all five Senate
positions it held going into the election. Even with the lower
quota requirements of a full Senate election, minor parties and
independents could only manage to win two seats.

1975, 13 December (Double
dissolution)

Following the dismissal of the Whitlam ALP Government, a double
dissolution was granted to the Fraser Government. The election saw
the worst result for the ALP in the post-war period. The party
received only 44.3 per cent of the estimated two-party preferred
vote, a swing of 7.4 per cent, and Labor won just 36 of 127 seats
in the House of Representatives. The Liberal Party won 68 seats,
its third best result, while the National Country Party won 22
seats, its best post-war result. The ALP returned only one member
from each of Queensland and Western Australia in the House of
Representatives.

In the Senate, the incoming Liberal/National Country Party
Coalition Government became the first government since 1962 to hold
a majority. Senators were elected from the Northern Territory and
the Australian Capital Territory for the first time. Long-term
(1975–2005) Tasmanian independent Brian Harradine entered the
Senate.

1977, 10 December

The ALP failed to recover substantial ground with its House of
Representatives seats increasing from 36 to 38 in a slightly
reduced chamber (127 to 124 members). The ALP share of the
estimated two-party preferred vote increased slightly to 45.4 per
cent. The Australian Democrats fielded candidates for the first
time and achieved immediate success in the Senate with the election
of two senators.

1980, 18 October

The ALP made substantial gains at the 1980 election but the
Liberal/National Country Party Coalition remained firmly in control
of the House of Representatives with a majority of 23 seats. For
the first time since the Second World War, the ALP won a majority
of House of Representatives seats from Victoria.

In the Senate, further increases in the strength of the
Australian Democrats meant that the Government lost control of the
Senate from 1 July 1981. National Country Party strength in the
Senate fell to three, the lowest since the war.

1983, 5 March (Double
dissolution)

The 1983 election was a triumph for the ALP, with the defeat of
the Fraser Government and a record result. The ALP achieved its
best result in the House of Representatives with 75 members elected
and a two-party preferred vote of 53.2 per cent, the highest
recorded by the party since 1949. Tasmania was the only state to
hold out against the ALP tide: all five seats were won by the
Liberal Party.

In the Senate, Australian Democrat candidates were elected from
all states, except Tasmania where the independent Senator, Brian
Harradine, was re-elected.

1984, 1 December

The 1984 elections were held for an enlarged House of
Representatives, increased from 125 to 148, and Senate, increased
from 64 to 76. A supernumerary senator was elected from each state
to bring the size of the Senate up to its full complement of
members.

In terms of members elected, all major parties gained in the
enlarged House of Representatives, with the Liberal Party recording
the largest gain of 12 members from 33 to 45.

The 1984 Senate election was the first conducted under the group
ticket or ‘above-the-line’ system. The effect of this
change was to reduce greatly the incidence of informal votes in the
Senate from 9.9 per cent in 1983 to 4.7 per cent in 1984. However,
the resultant confusion in voting methodologies had the perverse
consequence of increasing the informal vote in the House of
Representatives from 2.1 per cent in 1983 to 6.8 per cent in 1984.
Jo Vallentine (WA) was elected as a Nuclear Disarmament
candidate.

1987, 11 July

The 1987 election saw the two-party preferred vote for the ALP
decline by 1.0 per cent to 50.8 per cent, though the number of
House of Representatives seats won by the ALP increased by four to
86, the highest representation for the ALP to date.

In the Senate, the lower quotas occasioned by the double
dissolution resulted in a new record of ten minor party and
independent senators being elected. The 1987 Senate election saw
the first candidates standing on a green or environmental
platform.

1990, 24 March

This election was only one of five occasions in the period
1949–2004 when a party was elected to government with less
than 50 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. The ALP received
49.9 per cent of the two-party preferred vote yet won 78 of 148 of
the seats in the House of Representatives (52.7 per cent). The
National Party were the big losers in this election, with a net
loss of five seats, giving them what was to that time their lowest
number of seats (14) in the House of Representatives since 1919.
For the first time since 1966, an independent member (Ted Mack,
North Sydney, NSW) was elected to the House of Representatives.

In the Senate, minor parties and independents maintained their
position. Senator Vallentine was re-elected as the first Green
senator.

1993, 13 March

The re-election of the ALP Government, with an increased
majority from 8 to 13, at the 1993 election was the first occasion
since 1966 that an incumbent government achieved a positive
two-party preferred swing (1.5 per cent to ALP). The election was
notable for the election of two independents to the House of
Representatives (Ted Mack, North Sydney, NSW; Phil Cleary, Wills,
Victoria), the lowest National Party vote recorded to that time
(7.2 per cent), and the decline in the vote for the Australian
Democrats. In the House of Representatives, the Democrat vote
declined from 11.3 per cent at the 1990 election to 3.8 per cent,
while in the Senate, the Democrat vote went from 12.6 per cent to
5.3 per cent.

The decline in votes for the Australian Democrats meant that
only two Democrat Senators were elected, the smallest number since
the party’s first election in 1977. However, the strength of
the minor parties and independents in the Senate was maintained
with the success of a second Green senator (D. Margetts, WA) and
the re-election of Senator Harradine from Tasmania.

1996, 2 March

The Liberal/National Party Coalition led by John Howard was
returned to government after 13 years in opposition. The Liberal
Party won 75 seats in the House of Representatives, their largest
ever level of representation, while the National Party won 18
seats. The ALP performed poorly in Queensland, South Australia and
Western Australia, retaining only seven of the 52 seats in those
states, winning a total overall of 49 seats. Recent successes of
independents continued with five independents being elected, the
largest number in the post-war period. The Coalition received 53.6
per cent of the two-party preferred vote (a swing of 5.0 per cent),
the highest vote since 1977 and the largest swing since 1975.

In the Senate, minor parties continued to hold the balance of
power, despite a strong result by the Coalition. The Coalition won
20 of the 40 Senate places up for election. The Democrats improved
on their 1993 result and returned five senators while one Green
senator (B. Brown) was elected in Tasmania.

1998, 3 October

Despite its vote falling the Liberal/National Party Coalition
was returned at the 1998 election with a comfortable majority. The
success of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party in appealing to
conservative voters helped push down Coalition votes. The Liberal
vote of 33.9 per cent was the party’s lowest vote since 1972,
and the National vote of 5.3 per cent remains that party’s
lowest post-war tally. In two-party preferred vote terms, support
for the Coalition fell by 4.6 per cent to 49.0 per cent, only the
fifth time in the post-war period that a government was elected
with less than 50 per cent of the vote. The combined first
preference vote for the three major parties (79.6 per cent) was the
lowest since 1943. Of the five independent members elected at the
1996 election, only one (Peter Andren, Calare, NSW) retained his
seat.

In the Senate, minor parties continued to hold the balance of
power. The Australian Democrats won four seats to bring their
number to nine senators, their highest-ever level of
representation. In Queensland, One Nation candidate, Heather Hill
was elected (but was subsequently found to be ineligible and was
replaced by Len Harris), while in Tasmania, Senator Harradine was
re-elected.

2001, 10 November

The Liberal/National Party Coalition Government was returned
with an increased majority. The swing to the Government of 2.0 per
cent in two-party preferred vote terms was the largest swing to an
incumbent government since 1966 and only one of six times that a
positive swing to a government has occurred since 1949. Swings to
the Government were recorded in all states except Tasmania and the
Northern Territory. However, the election was one of contrasting
results for the Coalition partners: 69 Liberal Party members were
elected to the House of Representatives, the third-largest number
ever elected, while 13 National Party members were elected, the
second-smallest number in the post-war period. Part of the National
Party’s problem lay in the success of independent candidates,
with three being elected from rural areas, the second largest
number of independents elected in the period. The ALP performed
poorly, recording its lowest post-1945 first preference vote in
both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In the Senate, minor parties continued to hold the balance of
power, although the Australian Democrats now had to share the
balance of power with the other parties and the two independents.
In New South Wales, one Green senator (Kerry Nettle) was
elected.

2004, 9 October

For the second successive election, the Liberal/National Party
Coalition Government was returned with an increased majority. The
Liberal Party won 74 seats in the House of Representatives, their
second-highest result, while the National Party won 12 seats, their
lowest number in the post-war period. For only the sixth time since
1945, a positive two-party preferred swing was recorded to the
incumbent government. Two-party preferred swings to the Government
occurred in all states except the Northern Territory. In terms of
first preference votes the Liberal Party recorded over 40 per cent
for the first time since 1975, while the Labor Party’s vote
was the lowest recorded in the post-war period. The three sitting
independent members were returned.

In the Senate, the Coalition won 38 seats and won control of the
chamber for the first time since 1980. The Coalition parties won
four of the six Queensland seats, the first time this had been
achieved in any state. The election was one of contrasting results
for the minor parties: the Australian Democrats’ vote
collapsed and they failed to win a seat, but on the other hand the
Greens won two seats to give them four in the new Senate, the same
as the Democrats. A Family First Senator was elected from
Victoria.

In a worrying trend for electoral administrators, the informal
vote in the House of Representatives continued to increase and, at
5.2 per cent, was the second highest on record since 1949.

2007, 24 November

Under the leadership of Kevin Rudd, the Labor Party was returned
to office for the first time since 1996, with its second-lowest
winning first preference tally (43.4 per cent). Labor won 83 seats,
the Liberal Party won 55 and the Nationals secured ten. In the
division of Bennelong, Prime Minister Howard became only the second
Prime Minister to lose his seat.

The Coalition lost control of the Senate, but still held 37
seats—five more than the Government. The Australian Greens
increased their seats to five, though they lost a seat in New South
Wales. Independent South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, won a
seat. The last four Australian Democrats left the Senate: two had
resigned and two were defeated in the election. The Australian
Democrats were represented in the upper house from 1977 till
2008.